How do I do Normal?
by Strange Music
Summary: Where we every happy? Alone? Together? Where we ever happy since we met? Set in Season 2


**Sometimes a muse (or at least mine) decides to do her own thing. She decides what she wants in the story. And no matter whether I actually like the charakters or not she tells me about. Till I write it down. This is one of those stories. **

This Story is actually almost 2 years now to the day. Most of it was written in about 1 hour on a typwriter but somehow it remained unfinihed for the whole time. It had about 4 endings. But somehow none of them fit. And then I opend the story by mistake about 2 weeks ago. And suddenly the ending was so clear and finally made sense.

**A Shannon+Boone Sibling Story**

**How do I do normal?  
**By Strange Music

_Were we ever happy? _

Alone?

Together?

Were we ever happy since we met?

"Shannon "

It was her father standing beside his new wife and her darling son.

Her big day to meet her new family.

Frankly she couldn't care less about either of them. Especially since it had been only yesterday that her Dad had told her that they were moving in.

Not taking notice of any of her objection, obviously not caring about them.

"Say hello to your new brother. His name is Boone"

For a moment of curiosity she had had indeed gone up to look into the boys face. His outstretched hand of greeting however she had ignored. Not even contemplating about shaking it.  
She didn't need a brother, or a new mother. The one that she had grown up with been quite enough.

"Hello" and that was about as much as they would be getting out of her today. And for the next few minutes that was all that hung between them. No further words spoken.

After some time the boy's outstretched hand slowly started to lower down. Apparently even he was getting the futility of his gesture. Yet even as his hand lowered, he still held her eyes.

"I promise that I will take care of you. And while the grownups had ohh'ed and aww'ed. She hadn't been very impressed. She didn't need anybody to take care of her. Thank you very much. Especially not a scrawny boy like him. And with that she had only laughed and turned around to go up to her room. Not being stooped by the echo of the calls that followed her.

_Or were we just destined to live alongside. Bound to each other by a parent's spouse we neither wanted nor loved. _

"Look... I promised your dad that I would be responsible for you while they are away. His attempt to look unyielding failed, barely succeeding in looking stern. Actually all he looked in her eyes was ridiculous. "You are what 13? That's less than a year older than I am" Now he had the guts to smile

"But I am older"

"Not when it comes to mental age"

"Actually"

_Never really family but never being strangers either. _

"Listen you little rat. I am going out of that door. And you better not stop me if you know what's good for you"

She stomped her feet and put on her best scowl. Yet he wasn't moving aside from his place in the doorway.

"I can't…l promised our parents that you would stay at home tonight"

She had just huffed

"That you would not be seeing Fred."

He glared at her. Yet failing to impress her at all. Coming closer she managed to make up for the few inches that separated her from him by getting on her toes.

Now that she was eye to eye she played her last triumph.

"Try me" she leaned so close that their noses were almost touching now. "I am stronger than you are" he grinned. And that was when she played her last triumph. "And I can tell your precious mother that the real reason that they fired you from your Job as at the Swimming pool was not lake of guests, but rather the fact that they found you making out with your boyfriend during work hours."

"It wasn't..." but she knew that she had won when his hands balled to fits and his head lowered in defeat. It was so easy sometimes.

And without any further comment she stepped through the door.

_Maybe not bound by anything at all. _

"Look your Majesty. You see all those People that are working over there. Guess what…they are not too fond of it either. But they knew that it is necessary for our survival. So will you please stop looking through you bag and start doing something useful.

Anything.

She ignored him as she had always done. She was looking for her Sunglasses. If he had not packed them in her suitcase she would still have them. After a while he eventually gave up and went back to the others helping them around the wreck. Why he was bothering her with it she didn't know...she knew that help was coming soon. And then she would have to have found these glasses.

_Yet despite everything something did bind us. _

She heard the knocking on her Bedroomdoor. The invitation to enter was spoken more out of habit than out of really wanting to let him into her room. He didn't say a word when he came closer. Just stopped a few feet from where she was laying buried facedown on her bed. After a few minutes she looked up. How still he was standing.

Just watching her.

Observing her.

Only when he saw her attention he started to smile a bit "I hate your mother" she growled.

The smile was still there "Well I hate you father. So it looks like we might have something in common after all."

And despite everything she had smiled.

_Something that was just there. No matter how hard we tried to deny it. _

They had argued for hours on that weekend.

Their first weekend alone.

She knew that it wasn't him that she was angry with. It was her father for leaving her alone on this weekend.

For forgetting for the first time.

But it was on Sunday that she came down the stairs to find a small cake and a card and a card on the table. So it was Boone who hadn't forgotten her birthday. She hadn't even said thank you to him that day. But when she told him that she cake was good. He smiled like she had.

They had watched movies that day. And they actually had fun. Almost like real siblings.

_No matter how hard we pushed. _

Of course she had gone to Fred the moment he had stepped aside. And of course she had gotten in trouble for it. . But just as Fred's hand closed over her blouse to rip it off a hand had gripped his arm to draw him away.

"I think you better leave."

While not too impressive Boone still was able to look down on Fred in all matters of size. A balled fist later and he was gone. To this day he had never told her how he had followed her that day. But she knew that he had saved her from worse things.

Taking her by her arm, leading her back to the car that was waiting just around the corner. He didn't scold her not even for a moment.

Just brought her home as if nothing happened at all.

"Thank you…" she had whispered

"No problem" he had shrugged.

And that had been it.

Neither his mother nor her father had ever heard about this. But then again they barley noticed that she wasn't dating Fred anymore.

_There was a connection. _

When she saw the glasses appear in her view she almost jumped.

But then she recognized them.

It were her glasses.

The glasses that her father, had given to her.

One of his last presents before he had started to forget her birthdays. They were old and worn so different from the things that she usually surrounded herself with. But she valued them more that any of them. And he knew it.

So he had found them for her. He had left before she even was able to form a thank you.

_There would always be a connection. _

There had been so much pain…..and it was strange when the pain stopped so suddenly that she almost missed it. The jungle had disappeared and Sayid voice that she had heard till only a few moments ago was gone too. As well as his arms or anything else.

Till a voice reached her…and a hand softly touched her shoulder.

" Shannon "

She hadn't even realized how much she had missed him. Had spend to much time trying to push that all those feelings away. But now that he was here they were back full force.

Biting down on her lip she felt a small sob.

"Boone"

Turning her head she could see him standing right behind her. Smiling down at her as of the last few weeks had only been a dream. She hadn't yet got up. Still sitting. Too afraid that this illusion would vanish if she moved. That she would be back in the world of pain that she had come from.

"But you are….I mean….Am I dead?"

"Yes"

Nothing more….and when he held out his hand to help her up she no longer felt any worries about moving. There would be no pain coming back…any pain….ever again. She felt his arms suround her into a tight hug. Taking away even the last bit of her worries. And when he turned around to show her the way...she followed him without a word.

_We might not haven choosen to be family..but in the end…it didn't matter. _

_Because in the end we turned out to be family after all._

**The END**


End file.
